Whoa!!! Close encounter with the stinky kind, Steve. Happy to hear that you didn't get sprayed!!! :)

They usually do take off. They don't want a confrontation either.

One of the funniest things I've seen was when three of them were going up the stairs to the top of my slope and my cat was following right behind him. Nope. He didn't get sprayed. He was just playing follow-the-leader and not aggressive.

But it is a good thing you didn't move ... he might have taken it wrong and you would have been a target.

Smiles,
Lyn

That's funny, Lyn. I had no idea that a cat would do a thing like that! :)

Really beautiful mountain :)

I'm glad the skunk didn't get you, lol. I have them here, but I haven't seen one myself. I did get up at 3am because of an awful, strange burning smell one night and even took a flashlight out around the yard. It didn't smell like skunk until later! But it was skunk, definitely.

While horseback riding, I ran up on a mother skunk and three babies crossing a dirt road. The mother ignored us, but those three little buggers turned their butts to us and sprayed. My horse literally started cantering backwards, which until that time I didn't even know a horse could do, then got down on his knees and rubbed his face in the dirt. The odd thing was, I had no reaction whatsoever to the spray, but boy, my horse sure did. The smell wasn't even that strong.

We were at the Civil War event in Huntington Beach this weekend and saw a skunk on the way back from the dance @ 11:00. You always have to be on the watch for them at night when you are moving around. The park has them because people know that if you call animal control they have to kill them and so they got released at the park. There are cute bunnies too. It's a whole different park after dark like my friends from D-Land used to say. We had feral cats sleeping on parade floats and all manner of critters. The cats roam the park after hours. I saw a beautiful white cat once in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle in the moonlight after a pyro test once.

What a gorgeous view you have Steve. It almost made me forget about the skunk. They aren't aggressive unless they feel threatened. Also maybe it left because it didn't like the smell of your cigar!

Ingrid

The mountain isn't as striking as the picture. I zoomed because I was interested in the clouds. Here are more pictures that are more representative.

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{{gwi:331382}}

We bought the house for the setting and the view in 1985. Roses came later.

Beautiful, Steve.

My wifes sons dog just got sprayed with a skunk today...
Close encounter of the stinkest kind....P.U.
Glad to hear you escaped unstinky...lol

Great mountain shot Steve! :)

I love Mt. Diablo; its native flora is spectacular.

A very large, beautiful skunk has been frequenting my yard this summer. I went barreling out one night to confront the raccoon's vandalism of the lily pond and encountered both of them under the oak tree. No spray, thankfully.

Love Song....

I didn't know a cat could do that either. When I saw him following the skunks up the stairs, I went inside to see if I had any tomato juice because I thought Scamp was headed for a bath in the laundry room sink.

However, Scamp thinks he's a cougar and small prey is simply not worth the effort. He would rather stalk the deer at the top of the slope.

Some people say the tomato juice doesn't work, but it did work on one of my cats when I lived in San Diego. You have never seen a more miserable cat drenched in red gook when he was getting cleaned up in the kitchen sink. What was so funny to me was that he put up with it and didn't try to escape until I was finished.

I thought I was headed for the same experience with Scamp, but when he came home, he hadn't been sprayed.

Once the fox started visiting my yard, the skunks moved on, so I haven't had to deal with them for a few years.

Smiles,
Lyn

Beautiful view Steve! I can see why you chose that spot.

Skunks... ugh. Our dumba$$ dog got skunked two days in a row a few months after we got her. Didn't learn! Didn't learn next yr either. She got it again, thankfully only one time. So far, so good. (maybe they just left the area...)

I learned some possible sad news about my wifes sons dog that got sprayed...
The skunk may of bit the dog also and the skunk may have rabies.
The skunk was killed and they are testing it for rabies...
The skunk appeared rabid...
Sadly the dog did not have its current rabies shot...

Still pretty fabbo - almost makes up for the deer rampages.

Gotta admire your hope and persistence in the face of continual munching.

There are signs of deer in our woods (poo) - despite the fact that our deer are minuscule, they are nothing like Bambi - they have tusks for starters. Hoping they will migrate across the meadow to the nearby deer friendly, (more than me) rose-less woods belonging to neighbouring wild-life photographer (although he will surely be disappointed with the cuteness rating of Chinese Water Deer and Muntjac).

Awww, Jim, I'm so sorry to hear this about your wife's son's doggy. And the poor skunk as well. Rabies is such a horrible thing! I sure hope that the skunk wasn't rabid. Life can sure dish out some terrible, awful things to all of us living on our planet. Drats, rats, etc!!! :/

Lyn, thanks, for the additional info. I found it to be VERY interesting.

As a matter of fact, I'm loving all of you guy's input on Steve's "That was a surprise - not rose related" thread. Thanks, all, and thanks, Steve, for starting this thread!! :)

Deb

This post was edited by dove_song on Thu, Sep 5, 13 at 2:42

Jim........

I, too, am sorry to hear about your wife's son's dog. Has the test come back ?

Lyn

Vet hurried up and gave the dog a rabies shot...
Yes skunk had rabies...
My wife son has to get rabie shots also...
Dog will be Quarantined for 3 months...

The dog was it given an "antibody titre test" to see if it had rabies antibodies? If it ever had a rabies shot, it may have some or even sufficient resistance.

On the skunk and the cigar, well the skunk probably didn't like the competition. Lovely mountain view there!

("The dog was it given an "antibody titre test" to see if it had rabies antibodies?")

I'm not sure Hoovb....

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I don't smoke but with a view like that Steve I just may break out a stogie relax and puff on one myself... :)
That is a great looking view!

Thought to be a volcano, but isn't

Well that's good!... Nothing like hot lava
burning your rose leaves and buds off... :-O

Gorgeous mountain. I'd love to have your view.

The skunk that I've smelled in my yard may be very good for something after all. I had a mean yellow jacket nest hidden near one of my roses, and they attacked me a few weeks ago. They get mean this time of year and I hate them! I love bees of all sorts but not mean late summer YJs.

Well, some night critter dug up the nest and ate them all (and their young) over 3 days! Muahahaha! I read that it's probably that skunk. Works for me. Next summer if I see a YJ hole, I'm pouring honey down it early.

I've been attacked by yellow jackets and it is no fun.
I had a sweet cat that preferred to be outside. His food would attract yellow jackets and raccoons. When he retired to being an indoor cat the raccoons and yellow jackets were no longer a problem.
I made a yellow jacket feeder that contained cat food and encapsulated insecticide. It was hung so only yellow jackets could feed. It kept their numbers at bay.

The eruption was a 300 acre grass fire on the other side of the mountain.

That is a nice mountain. My friend used to share photos of it regularly on his drives in to work or from the river (he works for the state water department)

Hope they get that fire out quick

That is a nice mountain. My friend used to share photos of it regularly on his drives in to work or from the river (he works for the state water department)

Hope they get that fire out quick